What rooster?!!?

[Haydyh]

I currently have 2 Anconas 1brown leghorn 3 isa Browns 2 Sussex all hens and was wondering what breed of Rooster you would recommend I get?.... I was also wanting to know if I could leave my two pekins in with this rooster?

 

[Ridgerunner]

What are your goals? Why do you want a rooster and what do you want his offspring to be like, assuming you want offspring? Do you want eggs, meat, or something else from his offspring? Is feather color or pattern important? Are you worried about egg shell color? Is he just an ornament? It’s really difficult for me to recommend anything without knowing what you want.

I assume your Pekins are bantam? Many people successfully keep bantams in a flock with a full-sized rooster. Some bantams are larger than others and some roosters are larger than others. The more size difference there is between a bantam hen and a full-sized rooster the more likely you are to have problems. Here we call Pekins “Cochin”. They can be pretty small, less than 2 pounds. I’d be nervous with those hens with a seven pound rooster. It may work out for you but that is a big weight difference. Perhaps your Peking are larger?

 

[Haydyh]

I want my offspring to lay eggs and have a good look.

 

[Haydyh]

I want my offspring to lay eggs and have a good look.

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Lay a lot of eggs

 

[Ridgerunner]

I can’t comment on looks. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. But for purely eggs, I’d go with a leghorn rooster, any color.

They are not real big either. Might work out with your bantams.

 

[Michael OShay]

What variety of Sussex do you have? Sussex are hardy, calm and gentle birds, and good layers of large, brown eggs. In my personal opinion, the Speckled Sussex are a particularly beautiful breed, so if it were me and I had Speckled Sussex hens, I would get a Speckled Sussex rooster and breed pure bred Speckled Sussex. But as Ridgerunner pointed out, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

 

[Haydyh]

I have lights sussex

 

[Michael OShay]

I have lights sussex

I would probably get a Light Sussex rooster then and breed pure Light Sussex chickens. I personally prefer the color of the Speckled Sussex to the Light Sussex, but both Sussex varieties have wonderful personalities and are good layers of large, brown eggs.

 

[Ridgerunner]

The reasons I suggest a Leghorn is that leghorns are smaller than the dual purpose breeds. A mature Leghorn rooster might weight 5-1/2 to 6 pounds, a mature Sussex rooster should be closer to 8 to 9 pounds. Leghorns are known to lay a lot of large white eggs.

Leghorns are not very good as meat chickens because they are so small, but your ISA Browns and leghorn hens are also small and not good for meat. A smaller chicken eats less to maintain their body, a larger chicken has to eat more to maintain that larger body so a smaller hen uses more of what she eats to go to the eggs. They are more efficient egg producers. Leghorns can be very efficient foragers if you free range.

With your bantams the smaller roosters are much less likely to cause problems when trying to mate.